A short-circuit caused by external forces, as they occur in crash situations, leads to an uncontrolled discharge of the battery cell. As a consequence, the battery cell heats up locally and, if it comes to the worst, this results in an explosive reaction of the cell.
A big step towards the X-ray crash test has been taken: With the linear accelerator LINAC, EMI is equipped with a radiation source with which all materials commonly used in automotive manufacturing can be X-rayed. The short X-ray pulse duration allows tracing deformation processes that occur during a crash.
At Fraunhofer EMI, research to improve the crashworthiness of utility vehicles is conducted.
The application spectrum of foams ranges from sneaker soles to safety- and crash-relevant vehicle components. In the era of digital development, many products made from foam are – regarding form and function – designed and tested using numerical finite element simulations.
A car crash often happens very suddenly. Nevertheless, occupants are sometimes prepared – they see the crash coming and react accordingly: they contract their muscles, fully apply the brakes and brace against the steering wheel. With virtual human models, muscle stiffness can be simulated in different degrees, which allows making realistic statements regarding injury risks. Simultaneously, such models help to improve the safety of automobiles.
Up to now, the exact deformation processes taking place deep inside car structures during crash remained hidden. Using the X-ray Car Crash (X-CC) technology, the possibility of observing the said dynamic behavior of hidden structures under crash loading is investigated at the crash center of Fraunhofer EMI.
For the predictable simulation of airbag deployment processes, all relevant material characteristics have to be defined in the computational model.
X-raying is an established material research technology, which in the industrial sector has thus far been restricted primarily to static and quasistatic analyses. With the X-CC technology, Fraunhofer EMI combines X-ray technology with highly dynamic deformation processes under crash conditions and thereby contributes to the overall understanding of the behavior of inner car structures during a crash. Read more.
For the first time, the internal structures of a vehicle are rendered visible during crash thanks to the newly installed technology for X-ray car crash (X-CC) at the Crash Center of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Read more
Electric cars are emission-free and quieter than their previous generation. But how safe are they compared to conventional cars? In order to find out, new test procedures are needed since e-cars do not have a fuel tank but carry a battery. The battery’s position in a car varies according to the manufacturer. Therefore, it is a crucial question whether and how current crash-test guidelines have to be adjusted. Read more
To examine the material behavior of, e.g., fiber-reinforced composites or metals, Fraunhofer EMI not only operates servo-hydraulic testing machines for the range of medium-dynamic velocities, but also uses test setups for the characterization under higher strain rates. Read more
High-dynamic material tests are crucial for the understanding of material behavior under dynamic loads, e.g., in the case of car crash, in the fields of ballistics and in the fields of fast and machining material processing. Read more
Fraunhofer Institute for High-Speed Dynamics, Ernst-Mach-Institut, EMI
